Chicago violence kills 8; 46 shot over weekend

Chicago police shot and killed 15-year-old Michael Westley Monday in the Englewood neighborhood after a violent weekend across the city.

In just a three-day span, at least seven people were killed and at least 46 people were shot. Chicago police were involved in three of those shootings.

Most recently, police officers shot and killed Westley, who they say pointed a weapon at officers near 66th Street and Sangamon. Police say they heard shots fired and saw three people running from the area, including Westley.

As police tried to arrest him, they say Westley pointed a gun at officers. So, they fired at him. Westley was killed.

"I've never known Mikey to be involved in any gang or have any guns or anything like that," said relative Eastley Lewis.

However, police say they recovered two guns at the scene. Westley would have been a high school sophomore at TEAM Englewood this fall.

"He loved to play basketball. He loved to play football. He was good kid -- just loved to play sports," friend Darrell Holmes.

The shooting wrapped up a challenging few days for Chicago police. Despite the shootings, Chicago police say the violence is decreasing. The police department released statistics that show 31 percent fewer murders were reported, 27 fewer shootings and 14 percent fewer overall crime incidents in 2013, compared to the same time period in 2012.

Police Supt. Garry McCarthy has said in the past that the drop is progress, not victory.

More Shootings by Police

Westley's was the third officer-involved shooting in the city since Friday.

Early Sunday, a Chicago police officer fatally shot a man in the North Lawndale neighborhood. Officers were attempting to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation when a man got out of the car with a weapon in his waistband and fled down an alley, police said. The officers chased him and saw him slip and fall to the ground. The man reached for his weapon while trying to stand up, and an officer discharged his weapon, fatally wounding him, police say. Antowyn Johnson, 21, was dead on the scene, according to the medical examiner's office.

Early Friday, a Chicago police officer shot a teen who ran from officers during a street stop in the Northwest Side Portage Park neighborhood. Police say the 16-year-old swung a board from a fence at an officer pursuing him in the 1700 block of South Springfield Avenue, who shot him, police said. The teen was taken in good condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.

More Fatal Shootings

The most recent fatal shooting happened early Sunday in the West Garfield Park neighborhood. A man was killed and a woman was wounded about 1:30 a.m. in the 200 block of South Keeler Avenue, police said.

Cortez Wilberton, 31, of the 200 block of South Lavergne Avenue, was taken to Loretto Hospital where he died at 2:13 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. A 31-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the cheek and was listed in "stable" condition at Loretto Hospital

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About 1:15 a.m. Sunday, a man was shot to death in Englewood, police said. Jamal Jones, 19, was found on a sidewalk in the 7400 block of South Parnell Avenue with gunshot wounds to the shoulder and chest, police said. Jones, of the 8800 block of South Yale Avenue, died about an hour later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

A few minutes after midnight Sunday, 40-year-old Todd Wood was killed and three others were wounded in a shooting at a nightclub in the Chatham neighborhood, authorities said.

A gunman walked up to the open door of the club in the 900 block of East 79th Street and opened fire, striking the four men, police said. The men were involved in an argument outside the club before the attack. Wood, of the 8100 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue, was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital where he died at 12:42 a.m., police and the medical examiner's office said.

Another 40-year-old man was shot in the chest and taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. A 35-year-old man was shot in the leg and listed in "stable" condition at University of Chicago Medical Center. Another man, also 35, was taken by a friend to Jackson Park Hospital with a gunshot wound to the leg.

About 11:45 p.m. in the West Side Humboldt Park neighborhood, a 16-year-old boy died after he was shot by a gunman on a bicycle, police said. Kevin Rivera, of the 1500 block of North Keystone Avenue, was walking through an alley when a gunman rode up on a bicycle and opened fire, striking him in the arm and back, authorities said. The boy collapsed down the block from where he was shot. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he died at 1:37 a.m. Police said the shooting is thought to be gang-related.

Earlier Saturday, about 10:50 p.m., one man was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting in the Little Village neighborhood on the Southwest Side. They were standing outside in the 2500 block of South Ridgeway Avenue when a male shooter approached and opened fire, police said. Ricardo Herrera, 21, of the 2400 block of South Marshall Boulevard, was dead at the scene, according to the medical examiner's office.

Another person shot in the shoulder was taken in "stable" condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, and a third person was shot in the back, police said.

The first homicide of the weekend happened late Friday in Austin, when McGregory Porter, 24, was shot in the eye and another man was shot in the abdomen during an altercation, authorities said. The shooting happened about 11 p.m. in the 5500 block of West Quincy Street, police said.

Porter, of the 5900 block of West Iowa Street, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he died at 11:34 p.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. A 23-year-old man was also wounded and listed in "stable" condition at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Non-Fatal Shootings

At least 34 other people were also wounded in shootings across the city since Friday night, police said, at least four of who were critically injured.

Most recently a male in the Roseland neighborhood was taken to Advocate Christ in critical condition after he was shot in the head in the 9500 block of South Perry Avenue about 2:30 a.m., police said.

The youngest shooting victim was a 15-year-old boy wounded in the right arm when a shooter opened fire at him and two other men Saturday afternoon in the Southwest Side Chicago Lawn neighborhood.

A 19-year-old man was also shot in the right leg and a 23-year-old man was shot in the back, police and fire officials said. All three were being treated at area hospitals in serious or critical condition.